Friday, April 10, 2015

A to Z Challenge - I is for Imagination


Sometimes we get into a rut and the dreaded writer’s block sets in. 

Try adding some spice to your writing life by using your imagination to stimulate creativity...

Play backgammon. Go outside. Sing in the shower.

Add one ritual behavior to your writing programme. Get a glass of water exactly every 20 minutes. When you are drafting, treat yourself to a piece of chocolate after every fifth paragraph.

Mindmap. Whether you use key words, images, colors, a hierarchy system, numbers, outlines, circles or random words, mindmapping gets your creative juices flowing.

Write down a list of ideas and draw random arrows between them.

Work on a story title. Quickly make up 3 distinctly different titles. Meditate on them. What bugs you about the one you like least?

Awaken your sense of wonder. Take yourself on some small festive adventure.

Flip through a book containing thought provoking images.

Volunteer. Getting your hands dirty for a good cause can be the source of more inspiration than you’d ever imagine.

Read wildly different things. Especially stuff you disagree with.

Do you have any other imaginative points to add?

21 comments:

Christine Rains said...

All marvelous suggestions. I love seeing the world through my son's eyes, the awe and wonder of new things. People watching is fun too.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I like the random arrows idea.
I've learned to play the what if game.

Julie Flanders said...

I like the idea of the ritual behavior, although I'm afraid I'd gain 50 lbs if I tried the chocolate one LOL. Thanks for sharing these tips, I need to file them away for when I'm stuck in a rut, which happens more than I care to admit.

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

I especially like the dirty hands part. Means you're committed.

A Tarkabarka Hölgy said...

I love the last point! Too many authors make the mistake of only paying attention to others within their own genre... :)

@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary - Epics from A to Z
MopDog - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary

Peaches Ledwidge said...

"When you are drafting, treat yourself to a piece of chocolate after every fifth paragraph."

I do that every page (lol) and then when I realize what's happening, I deny myself chocolate for another few days or a week. I love my chocolate.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Going to a bookstore always gets my imagination fired up.

KatB said...

I love these tips! Printing a copy for myself right now. :)

Anonymous said...

All great suggestions. For a while, I was rewarding myself with jigsaw puzzles. When I finished a chapter, I let myself work on one.

~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Member of C. Lee's Muffin Commando Squad
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author

klahanie said...

Hey Michelle,

Nice thoughts. Although, in my case, volunteering was a disaster. Never been treated so badly. The irony was it was a supposed mental health charity.

Let your imagination take a break and allow a dog to do your writing on your behalf. Simple! :)

Gary

Anonymous said...

Found you through the A to Z Challenge list, and so glad I did. Really love the final tip, all of them in fact. Paula

Jessica Ferguson said...

Love this list! I'll be trying some of these. Thanks!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Michelle - take a walk and let nature do its talking to you - your imagination can wander along ...

Cheers Hilary

Michelle Wallace said...

Thank you to everybody who visited/commented!
Much appreciated.

Erin Fanning said...

Excellent tips! Thanks!

Luana Krause said...

Excellent tips for firing up the imagination! I am inspired by images (art), and also music. The best thing I can do for writer's block is get outside and as far away from the computer as I can get.

Vishal Bheeroo said...

That's super cool and mind blowing tips to wite. Creative people are crazy:)

Unknown said...

dreamy imagery.

J.L. Campbell said...

I enjoy mind-mapping. That gets my imagination running wild.

i b arora said...

this is something refreshing, i like it

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

Excellent ideas, Michelle. I love the "festive adventure."